Doug Clifford: Doug “Cosmo” Clifford [Reissue]

Doug “Cosmo” Clifford was the drummer in CCR – and still is. Except now it’s Creedence Clearwater Revisited where once it was Revival in name only…

I always thought he was a crucial component of the band – his presence, his feel. No frills, and those big, obvious fills. Unique timing though. And playing for the song. That chooglin’ chug of the band – it came, in part, from him. Yes, Fogerty ha the songs and no one denies that – but those songs were given their feel from Clifford and the CCR bassist Stu Cook.

So, just as the original CCR wrapped, Clifford released his debut solo album in 1972 – here it’s been reissued – after years out of print.

It’s a curio perhaps, or a lost gem. And though the best of it takes from the CCR feels (showing, I guess, just exactly what Clifford offered up to that band) it’s worth your time if you were ever interested in that band or music from that era. Latin Music in particular is a standout, the vocals are strong here too, Clifford supported by the Walter Hawkins Singers and the Tower of Power horn section.

Cook is here too, but on rhythm guitar, with session legend Donald “Duck” Dunn handling the bass duties and John McFee playing the lead lines.

There are some covers – a simple jaunt through Lovin’ Spoonful’s Daydream that cannot improve on the original but is no embarrassment, a good stomp through Spencer Davis Group’s I’m A Man that also can’t improve on the original but is still pretty great. And also a rendition of Doug Sahm’s She’s About A Mover. Good. The rest of the material is original songs and they’re all simple, fun-rockers.

So if that sounds dreadful to you – please avoid. But take this in the spirit intended, listen to it as a weird, lost relic and there’s plenty to like.